we built this house on memories
by hollyhobbit101
Summary: Molly keeps all the badges in a box, sitting innocuously on an already cluttered shelf. She takes them out from time to time, and is proud all over again as she remembers his children's achievements.


**For the Houses Competition. Title from House of Memories by Panic! At The Disco.**

**House: Ravenclaw**

**Subject: Charms**

**Category: Standard**

**Prompt: Prefect badge**

**Word count: 1100**

* * *

Molly keeps them all tucked away in a box, sitting innocuously on an already extremely cluttered shelf. If she could have her way, they would be displayed openly for all to see, but her children had repeatedly shouted her down whenever she tried to suggest the idea. Even Arthur had quietly joined in at one point, so she'd had no choice but to concede.

Nevertheless, Molly sometimes goes and opens the box, each time beaming with pride at the sight of four gleaming prefect's badges. She knows they all now think that being a prefect was just a stupid, meaningless thing - and well they might, given everything that had happened in recent years - but Molly still well remembers the day each of them had opened their letters, and those shining red-and-gold pins had fallen out. She remembers the looks on their faces, and her own delight, upon seeing them. Those had been simpler days, happier ones, and Molly cherishes each memory closely.

Bill had been the first - first in the whole Weasley family, in fact. His is the oldest badge, the colours slightly duller than those of the other badges, though it is by no means rusting or flaking. Aside from the magic keeping it in condition, Molly likes to keep them clean.

Bill had so wanted to be a prefect; he'd thought it would help him to become a Curse Breaker. He was always so clever at school, and Molly was prouder than she could say, especially when Bill would send letters home about this assignment or that essay. She had always known he would succeed in his dream, with or without the honour of a prefect, but when that shining badge fell out of the envelope, she had thought her heart might burst.

Then Bill had flashed her a toothy grin, and he had worn his new badge all day, inciting the jealousy and admiration of all his siblings, although Fred and George had mostly just poked fun at him.

* * *

Charlie never wanted to be a prefect, not in the same way that Bill had. He was always more quiet, less popular, and preferred the company of animals (and occasionally Hagrid) to his class and dorm-mates.

He was just as clever as Bill, though, and excelled in Quidditch. The professors had liked him too, for his good grades as much as anything else. It was no surprise to Molly, then, that Charlie was also awarded with a Gryffindor prefect's badge, although Charlie himself had looked almost annoyed at the prospect. At the time, Molly had just assumed it was because he didn't want it and thought it ought to go to someone else. It was only some years later that Bill told her the truth of the matter: that Charlie would often go sneaking into the Forbidden Forest to look for dragons and thought being a prefect meant he wouldn't be able to do so anymore.

* * *

Percy's badge still read 'Pinhead' from the Christmas that Fred and George had altered it. Molly doesn't have the heart to ask George to change it back, and Percy had been unable to undo whatever magic they'd used. So, taking pity on him, Molly had given him Bill's badge to wear for the rest of that year.

Molly loves all of her children, but Percy had always been different. Being the younger brother of two prefects and one Head Boy, he'd thought that he had to live up to their standard - exceed it, even. He'd never had the same easy manner with his siblings or classmates that Charlie and Bill seemed to, and he resented being the butt of most of Fred and George's jokes.

Earning his prefect badge had been Percy's moment of triumph, but, as he often did, he had boasted loudly, and constantly worn his badge around the house. It had not been so different with Bill, Molly thinks, but things were different with Percy. The twins were older, for one, and already used to pranking and mocking their older brother. For another, Percy had never quite been able to brush off insults the way his brothers could, always too work-driven and serious, striving to be the best in order to get attention.

Molly wonders what Percy would think now, if he knew that she still kept and looked after the badges. She thinks, perhaps, he might try to laugh it off, with a, "How sentimental, Mother." But, underneath it all, she thinks he would be touched, and maybe even a little bit proud.

* * *

Ron had been a surprise, though Molly would never admit it to his face nor to anyone else's, for that matter. She knows he had felt the pressure of having to live up to his older brothers, though he had certainly managed it, albeit in an unexpected way.

Indeed, Molly had assumed that Ron's adventures would have prevented him from becoming a prefect, if anything. Oh, she knew that Dumbledore liked him, and perhaps the odd professor, but his grades had never been as good as his brothers'. Besides which, Ron had never been interested in being a prefect, much like Charlie.

Ron had looked just as stunned as everyone else when the badge fell out of his envelope, she remembers, and he'd probably thought it had been a joke at the time. A prank of Fred and George's, maybe, or just a mistake on Hogwarts' part. But Molly knows that Ron had been pleased with himself, much as he pretended to be annoyed at the hugs Molly was lavishing on him.

Molly smiles at the memories, carefully closing the box and setting it back down on the shelf. A part of her regrets her reaction the day that Ron got his badge, saying that that was everyone in the family. Fred and George hadn't taken offense, of course they hadn't, but it was wrong of her to say something like that.

There were only four badges in the box, after all, and Molly had seven children. Fred and George were never going to be prefects, and nor had they wanted to be; they'd always made fun of their siblings and their reputation at school would always play against them. Ginny never really stood a chance, considering the state of the world at that time, and she took too much after Fred and George to really care.

Yet, prefect badge or no, Molly is proud of all of her children, and the people they have become. The box is just another reminder, one of hundreds she sees every day, of everything a Weasley might be.


End file.
